The media relations plan aims to support Be The Match's need for more ethnically diverse donors in the US. A key partnership with the US Postal Service will facilitate outreach. Tactics include creating a promotional flyer and stamp to educate the public and reach donors. The flyer will clarify Be The Match and waive their $100 registration fee. Documentaries on PBS, Netflix, and YouTube will convey personal stories to appeal to empathy and younger audiences. Target demographics include multi-ethnic individuals aged 18-44 with disposable time or income. Goals are to register over 5,000 new USPS employee donors and 1,000 donors from the mass mailing.

1. MEDIA RELATIONS PLAN
11/26/2014
TEAM MEMBERS:
MEGAN JOHNSON
CHRISTINE GALLAS
AMY HENDRICKSON
TAYLOR GEARING
DAVID WOLF

2. 1
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
Reputation:
- Be The Match is an extremely reputable and trusted company.
- BTM is one of the largest donor non-profits in the entire world.
- They provide research and family assistance to 1,800 families.
Website and social media:
- Website is a true resource of information for donors, patients and visitors.
- Donor friendly pages explain how the processes work from start to finish as well as
everything else in between from the expected to the unexpected.
- Also provides info about concerning qualifications, requirements, financial aid information,
every state and associated international hospital’s contact information: addresses, numbers
and website links.
- Regular and consistent Twitter updates, stories and followings. - Many positive personal
success stories on website and Twitter.
- Tightly sealed and controlled website with no real negative press.
- Annual financial and company statement accentuates company’s philanthropy and dedication
to helping people.
- Even the millions of dollars in the raw financial ledger, represented in thousands, is converted
into cents by BTM so that visitors can understand executive salaries compared to every dollar
of donation in a positive way.
Innovation and research:
- They are one of the leaders in research of blood cancer in the US.
- Their reputable research partner, Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant
Research (CIBMTR).
- 41 abstracts presented at professional conferences
- 19 clinical studies open to accrual
- 225 observational studies in progress
Collaboration:
- Many valuable corporate partnerships including USPS, also colleges with groups who actively
raise money.
- Hub for global transplant network, national and international access to donor databases.
- Robin Roberts is a famous African American news reporter and spokesperson for BTM.

3. 2
Weaknesses:
Branding:
- The rebranding of Be The Match is somewhat confusing. It is not a match making company.
Those we need to donate may not even understand who Be The Match is.
- They are known by different names even by their employees. Ex. National Marrow Donor
Program (NMDP).
- One man who dedicated a Facebook page saying that Be The Match executives overpay
themselves, which adds conflict to Be The Match’s goals and key messages.
Target audience:
- Advertising is focusing too much on white Americans in U.S. with current strategy. Currently
have an overabundance of white donors.
- A massive need for African American, Indian, Asian, and donors of more diverse ethnic
backgrounds for the diverse patients living in the U.S.
- Forty six percent of the transplants that BTM takes credit for on their website actually do not
happen here. Such a large percentage of transplants happen overseas because patients can
access the multicultural donors with diverse and ethnic backgrounds that they need.
- BTM U.S. can claim these operations under their umbrella because they are associated with
the International Donor Database, but the truth is Americans with diverse ethnicity fly
internationally for bone marrow because it becomes their only option.
- Only 1 in 540 U.S. donors will move forward to be matched because the individuals needed
come from diverse backgrounds.
Fees:
BTM often charges a nonrefundable $100 fee for various reasons such as registration costs or
internet fees even if He or She is never chosen to donate.
Competition:
- There is not much competition, but the competition out there are celebrity based organizations
and international organizations. For example, Rhianna for Believe, Jennifer Lopez for
Hispanic Community, Rapper Nelly for Jes Us 4 Jackie, Hugh Jackman for Bone Marrow
Institute, Mia Hamm for Mia Hamm Foundation and Cindy Crawford for Delete Blood
Cancer (DKMS).

4. 3
Opportunities:
Collaboration:
- Many of BTM’s corporate partners support BTM with direct money by writing us a check and
having their name added to our website. This helps BTM to continue research a cure for blood
cancer.
- The United States Postal Service however, has a high percentage of employee participation
and has encouraged over 50,000 of their employees to join BTM database.
- Since USPS has a high percentage of employees involved in the program, we want to explore
this company further and make sure we keep on giving employees and their families the best
opportunities to join us.
- USPS can also put us in direct connection with our target audience through the mail. BTM
can take advantage of this opportunity by sending media through the mail directly to
individuals, through a flyer and stamp.
- Collaborate with USPS to wave BTM’s current $100 registration fee for their employees and
families at a company event so employees are free to donate without financial obligations.
Threats:
Fees:
- BTM often charges a $100 fee for varying reasons such as registration costs, internet fees, and
those fees could discourage our target audience from becoming donors.
Competition:
- Although BTM is connected to international databases, when it comes to competition, the
international organizations are winning. These organizations have a larger diverse donor pool,
which draws diverse patients to these organizations.
- National competition in the United States is mainly celebrity started or developed
organizations, which attracts the younger audiences and deters them from seeking out our
organization instead.
Branding:
- Name is deceiving to people who lack knowledge about the company. This can be destructive
to BTM’s reputation, mission, and goal to attract diverse donors.

5. 4
Media Relation Goal: To support Be The Match’s need for more ethnically diverse donors in
the United States.
Media Relations Plan Overview
BTM’s corporate partner, the United States Postal Services, will facilitate BTM media relations
support. In addition, PBS, Netflix, and YouTube will help convey our message.
First, by creating a flyer and a stamp for BTM we will be able to reach a higher number of
BTM’s target audience more effectively by providing information about the company. The flyer
and stamp will not only be marketed to the target audience but any individual that wants to
support BTM’s cause. These tools will be a low cost to BTM because USPS will donate all
money earned back to BTM. The corporate partnership helps to alleviate costs and instead reach
business goals by allocating that extra money to research and helping with financial needs of
patients. The flyer also gives BTM an important chance to clarify who, what, where, when, why
and how, Be The Match is, to their target audience, especially those who have been confused by
the rebranding in the past.
Another strategy is to use PBS and Netflix to get the message out to the younger audiences for a
longer stretch of time and appeal to the audience’s empathy during that time with the personal
stories revealed in the documentaries.
YouTube is another resource that we will use to create an informational video about BTM. We
will utilize YouTube to reach younger audiences, and refer people to the website for further
information.
Audience segments
1. 18-44 male and female
2. Individuals of multi-ethnic backgrounds
3. Individuals with caring and sympathetic personalities
4. Individuals with some expendable time or income
5. Average income of $10,000-$100,000
Targeting tools
1. Target-through the mailing of flyer
2. Target through postal stamp
3. Target through booth set up at USPS company picnic
4. Target through online blogs and social media

6. 5
Goal Restated: Be The Match’s goal is to obtain donors that are more diverse.
First objective: Over 50 percent of USPS, employees are registered donors at Be The Match.
Through an internal campaign across the Midwest, we will reach out to USPS employees to add
5,000 donors.
Tactics:
1. USPS campaign coordinators will collaborate with BTM recruitment staff to hold a
biannual donor registry drive at the USPS June 2015 company picnic.
2. USPS employees will be given the option to donate during the event and waived the $100
fee to become a registered donor.
Second objective: Educate the public about Be The Match and their programs. There will be a
promo code included in the mailed material that people can use to waive the $100 registration
fee. We hope to obtain 1,000 donors from this mass mailing.
Tactics:
1. To reach out to the general population we will send out a mass mailing pamphlet through
USPS. This pamphlet will explain the need for individuals of diverse backgrounds to
donate and provide basic information about Be The Match.
2. A postal stamp will be designed. It will include Be The Match’s logo and will say,
“Diversity Saves Lives, Donate Today.”
Media tactics
- TV commercial: Use of television ads to gain the attention of TV watchers, which will
increase awareness of Be The Match. These will likely broadcast through local television
stations/networks.
- Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. This will inform people, including
the 18-44 demographic, of updates that happen within the organization. These pages will be
updated on a regular basis.
- Radio: Be The Match can have radio advertisements through talk shows, broadcasts, or
podcasts including WCCO and MPR. The ads and discussions can also be listened to on the
company websites for anyone who missed it.
- Magazine: Advertisements featured in magazines such as Minnesota Monthly and Minnesota
Business Magazine. In addition, articles featuring accomplishments and upcoming events will
be highlighted on the company website.

7. 6
Timeline for preparation
-Campaign will run from June 2015-September 2015 -We will begin planning December 2014
-The following is a tentative timeline Be The Match and USPS committees plan to follow
from December 2014-September 2015 for our campaign to generate more diverse donors
December 2014
December 12, 2014, meeting commences. Committees are formed within Be The Match and
internally within USPS. Each person’s role on their committee will be determined; The Be The
Match committee will create brochures informing USPS employees of the upcoming events and
will write a news article that will appear with the USPS company newsletter. Variations of this
news article will appear in the USPS company newsletter 5 times beginning in May 2015 and
ending September 2015. The news article will explain the upcoming activities at the company
picnic, donation opportunities, the mailing that will go out and the postal stamp. USPS
employees on the committee will distribute the brochures and ensure that the news article will be
published in the USPS company newsletter. They will also facilitate the making of the postal
stamp and oversee the mailing of the flyer that will inform the public of the waived $100 fee and
the need Be The Match has for donors.
A schedule of meetings throughout campaign will be set. Each meeting will be held at 1:00 p.m.
at the USPS location located at 2223 5th
Street, White Bear Lake, MN. The committees will meet
once per month from December 2014 through February 2015. Friday, December 12, 2014,
Friday, January 9, 2015, Friday, February 13, 2015.
Beginning in March the committees will meet twice per month. Friday, March 13, 2015, Friday,
March 27, 2015, Friday, April 10, 2015 , Friday, April 24, 2015, Friday, May 8, 2015, Friday,
May 22, 2015, Friday, June 5, 2015, Friday, June 19, 2015, we will NOT meet Friday, July 3,
2015, as this is a holiday. Meetings will resume Friday, July 10, 2015, Friday, July 24, 2015,
Friday, August 7, 2015, Friday, August 21, 2015, Friday, September 4, 2015, and Friday,
September 18, 2015.
January 2015
Committees meet on January 9, 2015. Be The Match committee will present their ideas for the
design and layout for the flyer and the postal stamp. Be The Match committee and USPS
committee will discuss revisions of the designs. An agreement will be meet on how the flyer and
postal stamp will be designed. USPS committee will present Be The Match committee with a
draft of the article to be published in the USPS company newsletter. Be The Match committee
will discuss revisions. The flyer will be sent out via USPS mail June through August. In August,
statistics will be evaluated regarding the success of the mailing list. Which will result in
additional mailings if needed in September,

8. 7
February 2015
Committees meet on February 13, 2015. Be The Match committee approves company newsletter
article deadline. Committee will discuss target audience of USPS employees and the flyer that
will be mailed out. Tactics on how to reach diverse individuals will be discussed. The key
message of the campaign that will appear at the top of the flyer, the company newsletter and the
postal stamp is, “Diversity Saves Lives, Donate Today.” This will include Be The Match’s logo.
An agreement is hoped to be made regarding where the printing of the materials will take place
and costs associated.
March 2015
Committees meet on March 13, 2015, and March 27, 2015. An agreement is hoped to be made
on when the article will first be published in the company newsletter, when the postal stamp will
be available to the public and dates the flyer will be mailed. The date for the postal stamp and the
flyer is tentatively Monday, June 1, 2015. As USPS Company newsletters are published the first
Wednesday of every month, the date for the company newsletter article is tentatively
Wednesday, June 3, 2015.
April 2015
Committees meet on April 10, 2015, and April 24, 2015. Final drafts of newsletter article, flyer
and postal stamp will be reviewed and approved. These final drafts will be submitted to Be The
Match and USPS executives for approval. Location for the USPS Company picnic will be
discussed. A master to-to list for everything needed for the company picnic will be made and
roles will be agreed upon regarding what roles each person on each committee will play.
Customer service representatives for Be The Match should be informed of this campaign so any
potential donor calling or emailing the company can have questions answered in a timely
manner.
May 2015
Committees meet on May 8, 2015, and May 22, 2015. Arrangements will be made to have
affiliates blog about campaign and communicate upcoming campaign through social media.
Master to-do list for company picnic will be finalized and each person’s responsibilities
solidified. Location for picnic booked. Executives for Be The Match and USPS will be informed
of campaign plans and schedule. Check with USPS committee to ensure all USPS employees are
invited to company picnic.
June 2015
Committees meet on June 5, 2015, and June 19, 2015. Campaign begins. Review all released
materials. Review social media and blogs regarding announcement of Be The Match diversity
campaign. Check in with customer service representative’s management to ensure information in

9. 8
being passed along correctly to potential donors. Arrange for a member from one of the
committees to volunteer to demonstrate at the company picnic how easy it is to get on the Be The
Match registry; having your mouth swabbed. Check with USPS committee to ensure all USPS
employees are invited to company picnic. Review all released materials.
July 2015
Committees meet on July 10, 2015, and July 24, 2015. Committees will evaluate current success
of campaign. A new donor from a diverse background will be profiled in the upcoming USPS
company newsletter to explain why they choose to become a donor, and how the $100 fee was
waived for them as it can be for new donors through September 2015. This revised USPS
company newsletter with the testimonial will be reviewed and submitted to Be The Match and
USPS executives for approval to be published in August 2015 USPS company newsletter.
August 2015
Committees meet on August 7, 2015, and August 21, 2015. Revised USPS company newsletter
with testimonial is released. Committees will evaluate current success of campaign. Statistics of
new donors who used promo code from mailing will be evaluated. Based on these statistics, it
will be determined if an additional mailing should be sent out in September.
September 2015
Committees meet on September 4, 2015, and September 18, 2015. Committees will evaluate
current success of campaign. Evaluate promo codes used by new donors to determine how many
individuals who received the flyer participated on becoming a donor. Evaluate success of overall
campaign to determine if original goals were reached.

10. 9
Story Pitches
You Can Be The Match
(PBS Documentary)
Finding a match for a blood cancer patient can be as easy as a mouth swab. We at Be The Match
want to produce a documentary that depicts the process for donors and the successful stories of
patients. Throughout the documentary, we will highlight the donation process. In addition, how
easy it is to become a registered donor. We will examine the process from the different
perspectives the families of the patients, the patient, and the donor. Portraying that becoming a
donor can gives someone a second chance at life will allow more people to become donors. The
target audience is the public, Be the Match patients, and potential diverse donors. We at Be the
Match will propose this to PBS. The PBS station provides a great outlet for our documentary
because it can reach our target audience and provide a great support to our reputation. We will
take advantage of any momentum from the PBS publicity and hit the target audience again in
month when we feature it on Netflix. We will be able to reach anyone who missed the PBS
viewing by making it available on Netflix where it will reach our target audiences and more.
“Inside Look” into Be the Match
(YouTube)
Who are we? What do we do? Why do we do it? What motivates employees? What it is like to
work at be the match? All of these questions are answered in our new YouTube video, The
Insider. We took a tour of the Be The Match facility and talked to some of the employees about
their role in the company. They also talked about how working there is making a difference. By
publishing a video and promoting it on YouTube, we can reach a large population of people. In
addition to promoting it on our YouTube page, our website, and some of our corporate sponsor’s
website, we will be able to reach our target audience of the public. The reason we are publishing
this video is to raise awareness about the company and give an insider look into what the
company is like.
No Match for Me
(PBS Special)
This 60 minute PBS special will be about the struggle to find a match to be a donor. Although
most people can find a match through a blood relative not everyone is so lucky. In fact, 70% of
patients who need a transplant do not have a matching donor in the family. We want to run a
PBS special about the hardship of not finding a donor. You could be the difference. We want to
run this special to accomplish two goals. The first goal is to inform the public about be the match
and how to become a registered donor. The second goal is to show the difficult stories of patients
and their families during the waiting process. You can be the difference; all it takes is a swab.
The audience we will try to reach is diverse donors.

11. 10
Media list and Contact info.
Company Name Company Information
Twitter Twitter, Inc. San Francisco, California
Call now: (415) 222-9670
Website: twitter.com
Address: 1355 Market St Suite 900 San
Francisco, California 94103-1337 United
States
Publication Frequency- Daily
Founder and Chairman- Jack Dorsey
CEO- Dick Costolo
President- Adam Bain
VP- Alex Roetter
Instagram Instagram, Inc. San Francisco, California
Call now: 415-857-3369
Website: Instagram.com
Address: 181 South Park Street, Suite 2,San
Francisco, CA 94107
Publication Frequency: Daily
Founder: Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger
CEO: Kevin Systrom
YouTube Youtube, LLC. San Bruno, California
Call now: 1 (650) 253-0000
Website: Youtube.com
Address: 901 Cherry Ave. San Bruno, CA
94066
Publication Frequency: Daily
Founders: Steve Chen, Chad Hurle, Jawed
Karim
CEO: Susan Wojcicki
Google Plus Google, INC. Mountain View, California
Call now: 1 (650) 253-0000
Website: googeplus.com
Address: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
Founders: Larry Page, Sergey Brin
CEO: Larry Page

12. 11
Pinterest Pinterest, INC. San Francisco, California
Call now: 415-762-7100
Website: pinterest.com
Address: 808 Brannan Street San Francisco,
CA 94103 United States
Fax: 415-762-7100
Founder: Mr. Evan Sharp
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer:
Mr. Benjamin Silbermann
LinkedIn LinkedIn INC, Mountain View, California
Call now: 650-687-3600
Website: linkedin.com
Address: 2029 Stierlin Court Mountain View,
CA 94043 United States
Founders: Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue,
Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, Jean-Luc
Vaillant
CEO: Jeff Weiner
Facebook Facebook INC, Menlo Park, California
Call now: 650 543 4800
Website: facebook.com
Address: 1601 WILLOW ROAD, MENLO
PARK,
CA 94025
Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo
Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz,
Chris Hughes
CEO: Mark Zuckerberg
Be The Match Blog Be the Match Blog, Minneapolis, MN
Website: bethematchblog.org
Publication Frequency: Monthly
Wikipedia Wikipedia INC, San Francisco, California
Call now: +1-415-839-6885
Fax: +1-415-882-0495
Website: Wikipedia.org
Address: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 149
New Montgomery Street, Floor 6, San
Francisco, CA 94105, USA
A3M Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M)
Address: 244 S. San Pedro St. #503 • Los
Angeles, CA 90012
Call Now: (888) 236-4673
Fax: (213) 625-2807
Email: A3M@A3Mhope.org

13. 12
Christianvolunteering.org Christianvolunteering.org
Address: TechMission,48 Pleasant Street
Dorchester, MA 02125
Call now: 617-282-9798 x104
E-mail: info@christianvolunteering.org
Delete Blood Cancer Delete Blood Cancer, New York, NY
Call now: 212-209-6779
Address: 100 Broadway, 6th Floor,New York,
NY 10005
Website: deletebloodcancer.org
University of Minnesota:
Carlson School of
Management
Carlson School of Management,
Minneapolis, MN
Call now: (612) 625-0027
Address: 321 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN
55455
Website: http://carlsonschool.umn.edu
Cnn.com CNN, Atlanta, GA
Call now: 1 (404) 827-1500
Website: cnn.com
Fax: (404) 827-1995
Email: copyrightagent@turner.com
Founder: Ted Turner
Asian American Donor Program Asian American Donor Program, Alameda,
CA
Call now: 510-568-3700
Address: 2169 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda,
CA 94502
Fax: 510-568-2700
Email: info@aadp.org